Supreme Court Sends Washington's Legislative Map Back for a Callais Redo — Redraw Possible Before 2031
NEW (Oct. 5, 2026): On the first day of its new term, the Supreme Court accepted the challenge to Washington's legislative district boundaries and remanded it to the lower court to determine whether the lines U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik drew in 2024 comply with Louisiana v. Callais — the ruling that "significantly curtailing[ed] the use of race" in redistricting. Per Washington State Standard (via News From The States): "The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday set the stage for another redrawing of Washington state's political maps."
The case began when Latino voters contested the 15th Legislative District's borders, arguing the commission's map violated the VRA by fracturing Yakima Valley Latino communities. Lasnik agreed and approved new lines in early 2024 that "shifted more than 300,000 people across 13 legislative districts"; the Ninth Circuit affirmed, finding race was not the predominant factor. Challengers Jose Trevino and state Rep. Alex Ybarra (R-Quincy) petitioned SCOTUS in January 2026 and were "energized in April when the legal landscape was transformed" by Callais. Both the challengers and Washington AG Nick Brown had asked the Court to take this remand step.
Monday's action will not affect the Nov. 3 midterm, but "could lead to the state's legislative district boundaries changing before they're next scheduled to be redrawn in 2031, depending on the pace at which the process proceeds." Campaign Legal Center's Annabelle Harless, for the prevailing plaintiffs: "We won this case twice already, and we intend to win again. As a result of our previous litigation, Latino voters in Yakima Valley had an equal voice in state legislative elections for the first time in decades."
What it signals: Callais is now being applied retroactively by the Court's own hand — a VRA-protective map drawn in 2024, already upheld twice, gets relitigated under the new standard. The remand puts the decision in the same district court that first ordered the lines drawn, with the map's survival now hostage to the post-Callais framework. This is the quiet, non-congressional flank of the electoral-map wars: no House seats move, but the template for unwinding VRA maps extends to state legislative districts. See also The Mid-Decade Redistricting Wave Closes Out: 9 States Redrew House Maps, ~1 in 10 Voters Moved — and the Last Court Challenge Falls in Tennessee.